Puzzle



(No Model.) I

D. B. STEPHENS.

PUZZLE.

Patented Mar. 3, 1896.

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WITNESSES;- fel. $04721,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEXTER B. STEPHENS, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO.

PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,539, dated March 3,1896. Application filed October 2, 1895. erial No. 564,409. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DEXTER B. STEPHENS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement-Puzzles;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of my invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

The object of my invention is a new amusement-puzzle that is cheaplymade and conveniently handled and operated, and that, because bringinginto action the reasoning faculties in solution, is at once a source ofgreat amusement and a means of strengthening the mental faculties. Iaccomplish this object by the device hereinafter described andillustrated in the drawings, to be read from the left-handed margin, inwhich- Figure 1 is an elevation, side, and partially perspective view ofthe two parts A and B of my invention in relative positions, as whenplaced in the hands of the novice for solution. Fig. 2 is a sideelevational view of the part A in another position and separated fromthe part B. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the part B separated from the partA; and Fig. 4C is a' side elevational view of my puzzle, showing theside opposite to that shown at Fig. 1, with the parts A and B thereof inthe relative positions as secured by its solution.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in all views.

For facility in description I term the side on which the greaterportions of the rings or loops appear, as in Fig. 1, the back side, andthe opposite side, as in Fig. 4, the front side, the edges being termedthe right or left edges, as the puzzle may be presented.

The solution of the puzzle consists in bringing the two parts A and Bfrom the relative positions shown at Fig. 1 to the relative positionsshown at Fig. 4 and returning them from the last to the first namedpositions. The method of this, after description of the two parts A andB that constitute my puzzle, will be explained.

The parts A and B are made of similar steel wire of equal gage and ofsuch finish as may be desired.

The part A is in U form, the ends of the stems a and b terminating inthe equal and similar partial rings or loops Z Z, such loops beingcircular and having at least two-thirds of their curves upon one sideand the same side of a line representing a prolongation of the stems aand Z). The loops Z Z from their highest points downward to terminationgradually deflect inward, or toward each other, the ends or points oftermination of the wire being on the horizontal plane of the back sidesof the wires and exhibitinga space between such terminals and the wiresa hairs breadth less than the diameter of the wire, which is everywhereequal. The length of the stems a and b and the distance between thesame, the size of the equal loops Z, Z and and Z, and the number or sizeof the wire used are each a matter of choice, provided that each is suchas to permit the free action of the part B hereinafter to be described.

The part B is exactly similar to the part of the part A severed a littleabove the curved portion that unites the stems a and b, so that the stem2 is a little shorterthan the stems a and b of the part A.

The mechanism of my puzzle being now understood, I shall next proceed toexplain the method of solving the puzzle, there being only one way inwhich this can be done. The part A is seized upon the sides of the stemsa and 6 between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand with the backside of the puzzle turned toward the operator, which posi tion of thepart A is maintained throughout. The end of the stem e of the part B isthen turned upward and passed through the loop Z of the part A andpassed upward until the loops Z and Z are in contact. The loopZ is thendrawn upward as nearly vertical as possible by the right hand until itlinks with the loop Z. The stem 8 of the part B is then drawn outwarduntil it is at an angle with the stems of the part A pointing toward thebody of the operator, who, then holding the stem 6 of the partB betweenthe thumb and forefinger of the right hand, moves the same from right toleft, turning it upward and over away from his body in a crank-likemotion until the openings in the loops Z and Z are coincident, when theloop 1 becomes freed from the loop l. The stem eof the part B is thenpassedbetween the loops Z l" of the part A, and the openings in theloops 1 and 7/ are brought into coincidence, linking said loopstogether. In doing this, as in forming the next link, the parts A and B,as much as may be, are kept at an angle with each other. The openings inloops Z and Z are next brought into similar coincidence, linking thesame together. The stem 6 is then dropped between the stems to and b andturned to the position seen at Fig. 4c, and the puzzle is solved. Thereverse of these several movements will return the parts to positions asshown at Fig. 1.

\Vhat I claim is The amusement-puzzle consisting, in combination, of thewire-made U-formed part A having at the ends of its stems a and Z) thesimilar and equal partial rings or loops Z Z, each having its greaterportion on the same side of the vertical plane of the stems, and in suchlarger portions gradually deflecting from the highest point downwardtoward each other exhibiting at the terminals of the curvatures whichare on the horizontal planes of the forward sides of the stems a and l),openings a hairs breadth less than the diameter of the wire; and of thepart B in form representing a side of the part A severed a little abovethe uniting portion; all substantially as described and for the purposeexpressed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

DEXTER 1-3. STEPHENS. Vitnesses:

F. A. JEWELL, J. (t AUGUSTINE.

